


To the newbies and the veterans

by further_the_dreaming



Category: Multi-Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fans & Fandom, Analysis, Character Study, Commentary on the nature of fandom, Essays, Gen, If by AU I meant real-life, Sort Of, Trope Subversion/Inversion, Tropes, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 10:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18496639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/further_the_dreaming/pseuds/further_the_dreaming
Summary: Introduction to an analysis on the nature of fandoms.





	To the newbies and the veterans

With any analysis series, it is rather conventional for an author to include some kind of foreword, preamble, even a dedication. Or perhaps there will be a prologue or the ‘scene that sets all of it up’ that will reoccur eventually. In essays, we have introductions, if you are able to access this, you know a lot of what I speak of already.

Fandoms.

And it is curious thing indeed to study how they form and how they develop, and the various traits they share. Namely, the original work (canon) evokes such strong feelings within the reader or viewer, that they go on to create something directly inspired by that canon piece. And they convey their feelings and ideas into a community (fandom) that, for the most part, shares their appreciation and responds to it. 

I doubt I am the first to say that I have appreciated characters, not for their canon depictions, but because of the efforts of fandoms. For it seems that nearly every character of a show will be loved by at least one fan. And often enough, fans have delved deeply into the one-dimensional psyche of a character, re-contextualised and remade every last detail of their interactions with the world and others, until between the efforts of a dozen or more people, we have an exceptionally complex and sympathetic character to root for in the future. I don’t believe that some of those canon characters were intended to so complex. Sometimes, they have had an equivalent of perhaps a solid eight minutes of screen-time in an entire TV series, and other times, they are very obviously delegated to their roles so that the protagonist can appear better by contrast. But the background characters become much more bearable to witness, once you appreciate how some people out there adore this character anyway, and wrote 40 000 or more words to realise that character’s potential. You love what the character can become, not what is currently shown.

And that brings me to the next point, relating to the oft criticising phrase: “um, that never happened”. Likely, there was a time where we all have felt that way – perhaps justly, perhaps not – there is a lot of subjectivity when it comes to emotions. The issue of “out of character” (OOC) usually arises where the fanfic author decided to write a character assuming the various redemption arcs or other such life-changing events have already occurred, and the reader (who unfortunately does not have telepathic abilities) cannot understand why these two mortal rivals are now bosom buddies, and the once independent character weeps in every other chapter. They did not read the staples works within a fandom that redefined canon. They don’t even know who some of the people are at first, because canon provided codenames, and fanon provided birth names. There are more elements at play when it comes to whether one ought to point out OOC-ness or if discretion is the higher virtue, but that could probably fill an entire chapter alone.

So anyway, if I say that the first side of fandom is passion (current or previous, because at some point I shall write about the ever-flourishing motivator of spite and frustration), then the second side of fandom is exploring potential. 

We see this in works that recast the protagonist to demonstrate an alternative point of view (as above). We see this when people fill in plot-holes, in world-building, in the “what if this happened” fanfic premises and we most certainly see this in shipping. 

Where would an introduction to fandom be, without at least a mention of shipping? 

But here are things that fandoms can do that canon cannot. A fanwork can be a direct catharsis to an individual’s personal struggles, or simply a means of improving certain creative skills of writing, sketching and video editing. A fanwork can begin a trope, others can expand upon tropes and then others still can deconstruct them – all within a time period so much shorter than it takes for an original work to even be printed. A fanwork can traverse into other universes or even combine universes – crossovers are especially a creature of fandoms. A fanwork can continue where a deceased author left off. They can be seen as adaptations of a work, published before their time (of when the original copyright runs out), but they appear at the height of when the canon is fervently discussed. (Unless it is something like Star Trek or Doctor Who where its story is ever-ongoing.) And we have yet to speak of fanworks that are sketches of book scenes, or animatics of musicals’ songs, or novelisations of TV series – those transform the medium of production, making it more accessible to others.

But for now, I’ll bring this to a close, else this introduction will only meander onwards without an end in sight. 

To the newbies and the veterans, it’s ever so lovely to meet you.


End file.
